A gray stone axe (Yue), Neolithic period

Collection of Hugo Munsterberg (1918-1996). 

JJ. Lally and Co., New York, 1994.

Archaic Chinese Bronzes, Jades and Works of Art, J. J. Lally Co., New York, 1994, cat. no. 13.

An axe of similar form and size, attributed to eastern China, Liangzhu culture is in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pl. 10:9, where the author notes that the hole, like the present example, has been drilled from one side and pecked at from the other leaving a rough, uneven surface. Compare also two further related examples from the Sam and Myrna Myers Collection, sold in these rooms, 18th March 2014, lots 117 and 118.